Will work permits help solve 'identity crisis' faced by H1B visa holders' spouses?

In 2013, 55,000 engineers and IT professionals went to the US from India on H1B visas. If all of them were married that would make 110,000 new arrivals from India to the US on H category visas. Yet, according to IT industry estimates, only half the number of spouses entitled to H4 visas accompanied their partners, because of inadequate professional options in the US.

x

Loading data...

x

Loading data...

Twenty-three-year-old Shobha Kapoor (name changed on request) from Pune, who got married three months back, is now on a one-year leave from an Indian IT major.

The company, which has huge operation in the US — some 70% of the $110 billion that the IT services industry earns annually comes from the US — has granted her leave to join her husband, also a techie, who is in the US on an H1B visa.

But Kapoor is not happy over her status; in fact, she has been forced to take this sabbatical because her current H4 status, as the spouse of an H1B visa holder, doesn't allow her to work.

"While I'm happy that my company has given me a year's break, it's harmful for me professionally. I have joined my husband in the US but I can't work as an H1B spouse and that makes me feel very disconnected. As an IT professional, it is very important to be hands-on and a one-year break is definitely not something to look forward to," she says.

In 2013, 55,000 engineers and IT professionals went to the US from India on H1B visas. If all of them were married that would make 110,000 new arrivals from India to the US on H category visas. Yet, according to IT industry estimates, only half the number of spouses entitled to H4 visas accompanied their partners, because of inadequate professional options in the US.

While exact figures for 2013 are not available, according to US State Department numbers, in fiscal year 2010 of the 66,176 H4 visas distributed more than half — 38,833 — were given to Indians. Says Gagan Sabharwal, deputy director of IT industry body Nasscom: "The spouses of techies are not non-productive resources. In fact, disallowing a person capable of working is a lost opportunity and can even lead to unrest."

But the situation could change for the better for Kapoor and other H1B spouses like her on H4 visas. The US government announced last month that it will soon come out with a series of policy initiatives and changes in the existing visa rules, including allowing the spouses of H1B visa holders to work in America.

In a statement, the White House said that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will soon publish several proposed rules that will make the US more attractive to talented foreign entrepreneurs and other high-skill immigrants who can contribute substantially to the US economy, create jobs and enhance American innovative competitiveness.

"These proposed regulations include rules authorizing employment for spouses of certain highskill workers on H1B visas, as well as enhancing opportunities for outstanding professors and researchers," the statement said.

Plight of H4 Spouses

Immigration attorney Sheela Murthy of Maryland-based Murthy Law Firm, which represents companies and individuals undergoing the US immigration process, however, sounds a note of caution. The US government has not yet issued any regulations on how and for which categories of H1B workers' spouses they will allow for employment authorization, she points out.

"There has been some talk that it may be limited to the spouses of those H1B workers who have completed six years in the US and have filed their H1B extensions based on having filed their 'green card' cases at least a year earlier." So it is likely to be a limited class of H1B workers' spouses who will be able to take advantage of this employment benefit, adds Murthy.

Ron Hira, an immigration policy expert and associate professor and acting chair at the department of public policy of Rochester Institute of Technology, too believes that it's too early to understand the full impact of the US government announcement yet.

"We don't yet know the criteria that will be used to determine eligibility. Perhaps they will address only a particular set of H1Bs and we don't yet know how many H4 visa holders will benefit," says Hira.

An immediate fallout, though, says Murthy, is that most H4 spouses who are eligible to apply for the employment authorization document (EAD) — popularly known as a 'work permit' — will likely do so now, those with infants at home likely to be the exceptions.

The current situation can be physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially destabilizing for the family, explains Murthy.

"Many spouses are highly educated and are eager to continue to work and use their education to benefit their families. When they are not allowed to work, it causes tensions and I have seen cases where the H4 spouse got so depressed that she wanted to commit suicide."

The US' policy initiatives notwithstanding, the right to work is only a small part of the problem, reckons Neha Mahajan, a media professional from Delhi who moved to New Jersey with her husband, an IT professional, six years ago. Whilst she welcomes the US government's proposed easing of rules for H4 visa holders, Mahajan says the larger issue is the "severe identity crisis" spouses of H1B visaholders face in the US.

"We don't have social security numbers, can't open our own bank accounts or even apply for education loans if we change our visa status to students. Even to get a driving licence we are dependent on our spouses because all their immigration details have to be submitted along with the application," says Mahajan who, since giving up her job in India, has only done voluntary work for the past six years in the US.

A postgraduate degree holder, Mahajan feels severely frustrated at not being able to use her media skillsets in the US. "And even though my husband is very supportive and I have two lovely young daughters, there are times when I feel completely frustrated about only having to do laundry, groceries and childcare. I feel that I'd have been better off in countries such as the UK and China," adds Mahajan.

Echoing her thoughts is filmmaker and advertising professional Meghna Damani who, after spending five years on an H4 visa, made a film on the plight of spouses of H1B visaholders called Hearts Suspended.

"Ours was a love marriage and, when I accompanied my husband to the US in 2002, I gave up my advertising job in Mumbai, having had no idea that this would mean the end of my career," says Damani.

While applying for jobs in the US, she realized that employers were reluctant to consider H4 visa holders, who they would have to sponsor for work permits. Later, after a course in filmmaking, when Damani decided to focus on H4 spouses for her student project film, she interacted with many other families facing a similar situation.

"These were stories of isolation, loss of confidence, abuse, depression, suicidal tendencies, broken marriages, marriages that never recover from this imbalance created at the beginning of the marriage because of social anxiety and dependence on husband and family," adds Damani, who has been advocating a change in the H1B rules and empowerment of women holding H4 visas ever since she got her own EAD in 2007. She recently started a coaching practice to enable immigrant women to realize their full potential.

IT Majors Upbeat Too

But it's not just IT professionals and their spouses who will benefit from the US government's new policy direction. IT companies too are upbeat about the changes.

"I see a direct benefit to technology companies considering that spouses of skilled H1B workers are not going to be counted towards the H1B cap [which has already been reached for next year] and thus can take up jobs at any time of the year as long as they are not out of status and an appropriate petition has been approved for them," says Mumbai-based immigration attorney Poorvi Chothani.

Depending on the criterion that will be announced for H4 visa holders who can seek employment in the US, there could be a big pool of talent becoming accessible to Indian IT majors with operations in the US.

"While for individuals this could open up career opportunities and possibilities, IT consulting companies will gain access to a larger pool of skilled workers without the extensive cost and formalities of immigration processing. This will add a pool of workers that will be ready and able to work without costly delays, limited quota numbers and the need for an employer petitioner," says Rami D Fakhoury, a Michigan-based lawyer who specializes in employment-based immigration.

Sucharita Palepu, global head, people, policies and practices, Tech Mahindra, feels the H4 visa roadblock is a big concern among employees, especially when a competent individual is unable to pursue a career after relocation.

"The US proposal [if it comes through] will be a great move. It will help increase availability of technical manpower in the US," she says, adding that often the spouses are engineers, doctors or teachers.

In the past decade, an average of 30,000 Indians have gone to the US on H1B visas every year.

And Indian IT services firms are aware of the problem. Ravi Shankar, chief people officer, MindTree, says that 35-40% of employees had spouses working in India before they left for the US.

To prevent disruptions in lives of such couples, companies have often hired H1B workers based in the US, he adds. An H1B visa is transferable — an H1B employee from Infosys can join Wipro or any other company in the US, unlike an L1 visa which does not allow a worker to switch companies while in the US.

Adds the HR head of a large services company, who did not want to be named: "Often engineers have opted to go to the UK instead of the US as the former allows spouses to work. The US proposal will be a great relief for the industry."

"It's not just about creating a larger talent pool for IT companies; this move will improve the quality of life for many of our employees and their families," says Sameer Bendre, chief people officer of Persistent Systems, a company that has about 500 employees across the US in different visa categories.